Bruins' Bergeron seems close to return

Asked on Friday if Patrice Bergeron might be in the Bruins’ lineup on Saturday night in Raleigh, N.C., (NESN, 7 p.m.), head coach Claude Julien answered "I don’t think so." After Friday’s optional practice, however, Bergeron might be too tired to play against the Hurricanes, anyway.

If Bergeron misses his sixth straight game, the official reason will be that he’s still recovering from a concussion.

After Friday’s optional practice, however, Bergeron might be too tired to play against the Hurricanes, anyway.

One of about a dozen Bruins who participated in an optional practice at Ristuccia Arena, Bergeron worked the longest (he was the last player off the ice, after nearly an hour), and definitely worked hardest.

He pushed through 1-on-1 drills, some involving full-speed rushes from the neutral zone into the offensive zone against a defenseman, others concentrating on battles in the corners and along the boards.

It wasn’t necessarily a full-contact workout, but it was exhausting: Bergeron, who competed frequently against rookie defenseman Dougie Hamilton, occasionally dropped to his knees to catch his breath.

The Bruins, who won the April 2 contest against Ottawa in which Bergeron was injured, have gone 4-2-0 without their most versatile forward, but the performances have been inconsistent: The B’s have been held to a single goal in three of those games, and on the two occasions when they got their offense untracked, they slacked off defensively after building big leads against Carolina (6-2 win, April 8) and New Jersey (5-4 win, April 10).

Bergeron, in other words, will be a welcome presence when he returns.

"Always good to see Patty out there," winger Shawn Thornton said. "He’s the best player on our team, so we obviously miss him. The quicker we get him, the better."

Although Julien spoke following Wednesday night’s 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders about the NHL’s revised protocol concerning concussions, which in some cases can see players return from the injury more quickly than in the past, the coach said the B’s won’t push to get Bergeron back until everyone is certain he’s ready. This concussion is the fourth of Bergeron’s career, although the last three have been far less severe than the career-threatening injury that cost him nearly the entire 2007-08 season.

"We’re certainly going to be cautious with him," Julien said. "He has a history, and we’re not about to take a gamble with him at this stage of the season.

"We’re being extremely careful with Bergie. We’re going by protocol. Never will this organization risk a player’s health for any reason."

Bergeron, who is tied for third on the Bruins’ scoring list with 31 points (10 goals, 23 assists), No. 1 in plus-minus (plus-23) and the NHL’s best faceoff man (61.5 percent success rate), will be with the team in Carolina.

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"He’s skating now, and he’s skating with us," Julien said. "He’s better off to work out with us than he is to stay behind."

LUCIC LOST

Milan Lucic (5-18–23) takes a 9-game goal-less streak to Carolina, but his goal-scoring drought has actually lasted much longer than that: Lucic has scored only one goal in the last 25 games.

"It’s not a good pace," Julien said. "It’s one of those things where Milan has to do it – pick up his game, get his feet going, get the game that has made him popular going.

"You push guys, you try to do things for them, but at the same time, the biggest difference-maker is him. It’s going to be up to him. We’re very hopeful he’s going to start doing that."

AROUND THE BOARDS

Winger Brad Marchand, who sustained a mild concussion on Wednesday at New Jersey, "is progressing," Julien said. "He seems to be feeling better." ... Julien hadn’t decided on Friday if Hamilton, who was given a rest on Thursday after playing the Bruins’ first 39 games, would be put back in the lineup at Carolina ... The Hurricanes have lost seven straight games overall, and are 1-13-1 in their last 15 games. They’ve also lost a franchise-record eight straight games at PNC Arena.